People seem to think it’s a compliment to draw attention to how skinny someone is. Compliments are great, yes, but they aren’t always interpreted as such. I love being skinny and I’m thankful for my skinny size. I don’t, however, appreciate the seemingly joking comments people pay as compliments. Here are a few that don’t always feel like compliments.

1. “You’re really skinny; you must be a size 0.”
If I had $1 for every person who said this to me, I’d never have money problems. Simply being skinny doesn’t mean I, or any other skinny, only wear a size XXS, 0, or 00. Perhaps it’s rude of me, but I don’t appreciate people judging me like that. When a single leg barely fits in the waist of a 00, I question if society thinks I’m skinny. (Read my logic before you start strangling me, please.)

When the majority of people who comment on my size say something similar to: “You’re really skinny; you must be a 0,” a 0 must thus be society’s simplest definition of skinny. Since I don’t fit a 0, I must not be skinny. I realize there are flaws to my logic, but from the standpoint of young female who only knows “twiggy” as a size, repeatedly being reminded that I’m not a 0 while constantly hearing 0 and skinny in the same sentence gets into your subconscious. Compare a 0 to a 5 sometime and tell me those three inches don’t make a difference in your mind. I can only imagine how others who wear anything bigger than a 5 feel; no wonder we’re so self-conscious in this country.

2. “Do you get any skinnier?”
How about don’t worry if I can be skinnier. If you’re jealous and want to be skinny, do something about it. This sounds rude, but again if I had a $1 for every female who said she was jealous of how skinny I am, I could buy a house. That’s fine if females want to be skinny, but I’m not skinny because I want others to be jealous of me. (Honestly, I can’t do much about my size.) Be skinny if you want to be skinny; however, no matter what, always love yourself. Please, don’t worry about me and my skinniness. If I want to be skinnier, I will be.

3. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
I’m not fragile because I’m skinny! Those skinnies who are literally only skin and bone might be breakable; however, this is a rude assumption to make. I happen to have muscle and I will use that muscle to kick your judgmental butt if you try to snap me in pieces.

4. “You don’t have any fat” or “What are you, anorexic?”
Everyone has fat on their bodies, even skinnies like me. Skinnies may not have jiggly amounts of fat, but fat is present. Along the same line, “put some meat on your bones” isn’t always an easy task for skinnies. I, for one, metabolize fat and sugar too fast; so fast it can’t become ‘meat on my bones.’ Calling someone anorexic is never a compliment. Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental health disease that shouldn’t be joked about.

Some skinnies need reminding to keep their self-esteem high (and possibly prevent them from developing anorexia), but word the compliments carefully so as not to offend. Poorly worded compliments can be damaging. Fat people don’t always take kindly to being called fat or told they “have plenty of extra to keep them warm” and skinny people don’t always take kindly to being told the above phrases.

One response to “Skinny People Have Feelings Too”

Thanks so much for informing the world about this. Being skinny isn’t always a lifestyle choice like everyone seems to think it is and being constantly reminded of how bony you are or look isn’t complimentary. Not all people who are skinny are anorexic; high metabolism or eating right and exercising are factors to consider before you automatically assume.